Outcome Impacts Due to Pathogen-Specific Antimicrobial Resistance: A Narrative Review of Published Literature

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant global threat to public health, clinical practice, and economic outcomes.
• While AMR surveillance and diagnostics are widely studied, the specific impacts of AMR on health and economic outcomes remain underreported.
• Malaria, tuberculosis (TB), and HIV are major infectious diseases where AMR emergence has profound consequences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and summarize published findings on the public health, clinical, and economic outcomes associated with AMR in malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV.
• To discuss the implications of these findings for understanding AMR impacts in other infectious diseases.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed/Medline and Google Scholar databases.
• Included studies were empirical and peer-reviewed, reporting on public health, clinical, or economic outcomes linked to AMR in malaria, TB, and HIV.
• The review encompassed papers published up to December 1, 2019.

Main Results:

• A total of 76 studies were included: 16 on public health outcomes, 49 on clinical outcomes, and 11 on economic outcomes.
• The synthesized data demonstrate that the emergence and spread of AMR in malaria, TB, and HIV lead to adverse public health, clinical, and economic consequences.
• AMR in these diseases results in significant negative impacts across all three outcome categories.

Conclusions:

• Antimicrobial resistance in malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV demonstrably results in significant adverse public health, clinical, and economic outcomes.
• The findings underscore the critical need for similar outcome-focused studies on AMR in other infectious diseases.
• Addressing AMR requires a comprehensive understanding of its multifaceted impacts beyond mere surveillance and diagnostics.